July 29, 2010

Morning practice good for McGee

Stephen McGee needs all the work he can get. The third-string quarterback doesn't get many reps. The one game he would have gotten a lot of playing time in last season -- the final preseason game -- McGee was hurt. So Wade Phillips' learning practice Wednesday morning was great for McGee.

With Tony Romo and Jon Kitna not on the field, McGee was the top quarterback and got most of the snaps.

"All players need reps, particularly quarterbacks, particularly young quarterbacks," offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said. "Stephen has done a good job in training camp so far. But anytime he can get a chance to be the first quarterback in the huddle and come run the practice, that's going to help him. He got a chance to run some of the plays that he hadn't been able to run so far in camp and it's going to help him as will five preseason games. He’ll get a lot of game snaps as well."

Romo was the only starting quarterback in the NFL to take every snap last season. So Kitna needs the word, too. Kitna and McGee will get plenty of snaps in the preseason as the Cowboys play an extra preseason game. The plan is for the backups to play most of the first and fifth preseason games. They'll get some work in the second and third games, too.

"The big thing for those guys is just to get the chance to play, play within the system in game situations," Garrett said. "Now, it's not the regular season, and we understand that. But these game reps are valuable really for all our guys, particularly our quarterbacks."